That actually wasn't a shot at the Sedins, just a reference to the time frame. The asshole factor actually started to depart in a hurry after Burke left and took his "truculence" with him.

When the team committed to building around the Sedins though, and then Gillis wanted to go with the Detroit model, they forgot about guys like Holmstrom, Draper, Maltby, McCarty, Knuble, Macoun, Grimson.....players who don't necessarily put up a ton of points, but they are huge support players who know how to contribute in big ways at key times.....and those are the players who also would have had a response after the whistle for teams like the 2011 Bruins.

The Red Wings were so dominant through the late 90's and early 00's that when Gillis fixated on them as a team to model after, and AV bought into it, they may have focused too much on the core skill players of those teams, Yzerman, Shannahan, Fedorov, Larionov, Robataille, Hull, Hasek, Lidstrom, Chelios, etc.....

But no matter how you look at it, the skill component is the way to go, so long as there is a toughness to back it up.